


I Never Knew

by Dark_and_night



Category: Hannibal (TV), Hannibal Lecter (Hopkins Movies), Hannibal Lecter Series - All Media Types, Silence of the Lambs - Fandom, The Silence of the Lambs
Genre: One Shot, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-24 16:46:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21741169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dark_and_night/pseuds/Dark_and_night
Summary: A visit in prison.
Relationships: Hannibal Lecter/Reader, Hannibal Lecter/You
Comments: 5
Kudos: 165





	I Never Knew

Don’t touch the glass. Don’t tell him anything personal. Don’t give him any sharp objects.  


Don’t treat him like a human being.  


Don’t fall in love with him.  


Don’t.  


The rules you were told rang through your head as you walked down the long stretch of hallway, ignoring the cat calls of the other residents. Your heart raced as you came closer to his cell, the only sound aside from the jeers of the other clinically insane residents was the sound of your shoes on the ground.  


His cell started slowly coming into view, and you feared your heart would stop.  


When you finally saw him, you couldn’t look at him. You focused on one of the bolts in the wall until you had centered yourself in the frame of his glass cell. Your eyes still couldn’t find their way to him, and you heard him chuckle as he folded his arms behind his back.  


“You’ve changed your hair.” He said sweetly, his voice rich and just as perfect as you remembered.  


You touched your hair absentmindedly, still not looking directly at him. “I didn’t change it that much.”  


“I see, it must be that my memory is failing me, it’s been so long. How long has it been my love, five years now?” Hannibal purred, observing you so intensely it was as if it had been you behind the glass on display for him.  


“Four years, six months, twenty-seven days.” You replied quickly, finally looking at him.  


God, he was just as handsome as ever. A bit older, but every bit as charming, even in his prison jumpsuit. He held a pleasant smile on his face, but it made you uneasy to see it. You couldn’t tell if he was happy to see you or not.  


“How time flies.” He replied. “And why did they allow you to visit me?”  


“I told them I was your cousin.” You felt tears pricking at your eyes, and you bit your cheek, trying to force yourself to pull it together.  


“Ah.” Hannibal raised his eyebrows slightly. “And they believed you?”  


You shook your head slightly. “Probably not.”  


Hannibal chuckled, the sound jolting you like electricity running down your spine. You were so happy to see him, but his motions seemed colder than they used to be. More calculated. Perhaps after all this time, you were nothing but a stranger to him after all.  


It hadn’t been your fault he got caught.  


But you had played the role of the scared victim to the police. You were scared, and you answered all their questions how you figured they wanted them to be answered.  


Were you alright? Yes.  


Was he holding you hostage? Yes.  


Would you testify against him in a court of law? Yes.  


Did you regret it? Yes.  


“And what has it been like, living the life of the only survivor of Hannibal the Cannibal?” Hannibal spread out his hands slightly, his flair for theatrics taking over. “Has it been fun, love?”  


You quickly shook your head. “No! I never…people wanted interviews for years. That stupid true crime channel kept trying to make a special about me, but I turned everyone down. I just wanted to be forgotten…”  


He hummed again, taking a step toward the glass, his eyes cutting you to the soul. “And what excuse did you give them, my love? Did you claim it was for your health?”  


“N-no.” You finally managed to break eye contact, looking at the ground. “I… I told them that my special would be narrated by Peter Thomas or I wouldn’t do it.”  


Finally, a real, genuine laugh came from Hannibal. It was short, over before it started, cut off when he quickly regained control of himself. “Peter Thomas, the dead voiceover specialist who narrated Nova?”  


“And Forensic Files.” You smiled sheepishly, looking up at him. “People didn’t want to deal with me after that.”  


He chuckled once again, smiling at you. “You always were a tricky one.”  


The sentence seemed loaded, full of dangerous undertones and accusations. And even then, all you wanted was to reach out and touch him.  


“Hannibal, I wanted to tell you I wasn’t the reason you were arrested.” You had rehearsed this speech so many times, but still, your voice sped up as you became more nervous. You had thought of nothing of this moment for almost five years, and you could feel yourself unraveling as his presence overpowered you. “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry!” Christ, you’d had so much more to say, and you were blowing it.  


“Stop.” Hannibal said. Barely above a whisper, but it stopped your rambling. You looked up to see Hannibal, only a foot away from the glass, his eyes fixed on yours, making your breath hitch in your throat.  


You took a shuddering breath, collecting yourself.  


“I know you weren’t the reason I was captured. And, great minds think alike, because when you were telling the police you were my hostage, I told them the same thing.” Hannibal continued speaking softly, as close to you as he could get without the guards coming in and taking you away from him. And he couldn’t have that happen twice. He couldn’t live through that again.  


“You did?” You brought your hands to your mouth, a new wave of tears threatening to overflow.  


Hannibal nodded slightly, still looking at you with a kind of intensity that you could never find anywhere else. “I am not the kind of person who has ever cared for the preservation of others. I have never told a lie that benefited anyone other than myself. But I couldn’t have you carted off to jail.”  


“Why?” You squeaked.  


Hannibal hesitated a moment, for the first time being the first one to break eye contact. “I never knew love until I knew you. I can’t have something of mine getting carted off where I can’t find it.”  


“You couldn’t find me now.” You said quietly. The relief of knowing he didn’t blame you made your legs weak. This short interaction had taken nearly everything out of you, but you didn’t want to leave. But the guards were only giving you twenty minutes alone with him. Soon they would be in to take you away. It was happening too soon. Now that you knew he never hated you, it made you want to bury your face in his chest and weep for all the years the two of you had lost.  


Hannibal chuckled as the door opened at the end of the hall, a couple of male nurses walking toward you to tell you to leave.  


“I don’t intend to stay here much longer.” He eyed the nurses, pressing his hand against the glass just in front of you, lowering his voice. “And I will find you, my dearest.”  


The promise made goosebumps appear on your flesh as the nurses gently took your arms, leading you out. You had gone over your time, and they had been forced to retrieve you. You twisted your neck to keep looking at Hannibal, his eyes not leaving you until you were out of sight.  


As he was left to himself once again, Hannibal decided that the first people to die on his way out of this pathetic excuse for an institution would be the two nurses who had the audacity to touch what was his.


End file.
